


Out from the Ground

by CurfBoi451



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Even after that it's only references to the others so far, Multi, My First AO3 Post, My First Fanfic, My First Work in This Fandom, The first chapter only has my ocs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-02 12:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16305614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CurfBoi451/pseuds/CurfBoi451
Summary: There's always the story you know, and the story you don't. What would happen to octolings once they actually escape? For those less fortunate than Eight, with Off The Hook taking care of them, I mean.





	1. Free at last

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So, this is my first fic I've made, and I really hope you enjoy it. Just saying, these characters are original characters. I might put in some other, well-known characters later but for now I've only referenced them.

Honestly, I'm never going to forget the trauma of the underground. But here I stand now, the glowing colours of the promised land in front of me. Right there. After years of dreaming about it, I have finally got to see it in person. And… it's beautiful. The most amazing thing I've ever seen.

Yes, I won't forget the underground. But I won't forget that moment of when I finally escaped.

Now here I am, roaming this world’s streets. Inkopolis, I believe it's called. Nobody happens to be out right now. I thought there was a big light in the sky to light up the place, but the sky’s completely black. The only light comes from posts on the side of the streets. There are plenty of big screens around, but they're all filled with darkness. Empty.

I'll be real, this is not the world I envisioned. I thought this world would have more life to it. Inkling roaming around, doing… what they pleased…

I even taught myself the inkling language for that reason, and while there's a lot of it on posters all around, this place just looks… abandoned.

Then, turn of the corner, I find a place that's not all at rest. Windows on buildings have light peeking out through curtains. There’s voices, plenty, most with what I can assume is an inkling accent. However, two voices stand out, that speak in octoling. They're just coming from… this alleyway. This dark, ominous alleyway. Still, being curious, I snuck up to it.

“So what the hell are we supposed to do?” a female voice asked. “This is an inkling world we're in. We don't fit in.”

“I'm sure we could find something.” a different voice replied, also female. “Like, maybe there's a safe spot for octos-”

“Are you serious!? We've already tried that! There's nothing!” This frustrated vent was followed by something hitting metal.

“All we did was a quick internet search. Maybe if we actually went out, we could find something.”

I heard a long sigh, followed by, “Fine. Let's go.” There was footsteps that then faded out until I couldn't hear them anymore. I peeked around the corner. Nobody was there, but there was a dumpster.

Thinking, I figured that somebody might have thrown out something useful. I never thought I'd stoop this low, but here I am, rummaging through a dumpster for anything of use. I did find a t-shirt and shorts. Nothing fancy, just a plain yellow shirt and sports shorts. However, they fit nicely and were a lot better than the tight outfit that I had already been wearing.

The dumpster had its cover flipped over to lean up against the wall. It made a shelter, and by looking under, I realized that this is probably where those other octos were living. There were 2 backpacks, unzipped. I could only see one thing inside, which I had never seen before. A row of vertical black and white buttons, along with square buttons and some knobs. I had never seen anything like it.

I was about to go when I heard footsteps coming fast my way, and before I knew it the two octos were back, but they both looked panicked.

“You need to hide!” One of them almost whispered at me. They both dove into the dumpster.

I got worried at their words. What were they talking about? Then I heard more footsteps. Around the same corner. Wanting to play it safe, I followed the other octolings into the dumpster. Almost immediately after, I heard the footsteps pass us by, an inkling voice yelling, “You'll regret coming here!”

After the footsteps faded, I peeked out. “The coast is clear,” I informed them, climbing out.

“Keep your voice down!” They hissed at me. “He might still be around the corner.”

“Sorry,” I whispered back. An awkward silence arose.

“So,” One of them said. “Hi there. My name's Misko, and she-” Misko pointed to the other octoling. “-is Numki.”

“Nice to meet you,” Numki said with pleasure.

“My name’s Seffir,” I told them. “Now, what was up with that guy?”

“He’s a racist,” Numki informed me.

“And a murderer,” Misko added. “With a gun.”

“He wants all octos out, or dead,” Numki concluded. That sent a shiver down my back. A murderer on the loose, hunting octos down? What happened to all the stories of the Promised Land, where you were free to do what you want without a care in the world? I suppose it did sound a little too good to be true.

“Do you know his name?” I asked, almost a bit too scared to want to know.

“Disuke, I think,” Numki recalled. “Not too sure on that though.”

“Alright, so... would you mind if I stayed with you guys?” I hesitantly asked. “I don’t want to be alone with people like him out.”

“I don’t see why not,” Misko said with a shrug. “But we don’t have much.”

“Me neither. I just got here,” I admitted.

“We’ve only been here a day,” Numki told me. “The only things we have are what we brought up with us, which isn’t much.”

“Same,” I informed them, and for the first time since I prepped my escape from the underground, I paid attention to the backpack on my back. All I had in it were some mem cakes and the inkling books I had that described Inkopolis.

“Wait,” Misko looked confused. “Those books you have, they’re written in inkling.”

I felt like just saying, “Yeah, so what?” But then I remembered that this was an inkling world. That spoke inkling. If you don’t know how to speak inkling, you’re out of luck. And I had thoughts that these octos, who have never been exposed to any bit of inkling culture before, might not know inkling.

“I actually can speak inkling,” I ended up going with. This was met by shocked looks on their faces, to no surprise.

“Really?” Misko asked me. I nodded, and that got her really excited. “That’s awesome! You could actually go out into town and do stuff! This is great!”

Numki put her arm around me. “I can already tell that this is the start of some good times.”

“Hey, what’s this?” Misko suddenly asked, pointing at my wrist. I looked at it and remembered what was on it - my wristband.

“N-nothing,” I quickly said, drawing my hand back.

“Oh, is it personal?” Misko drew her hand back too, looking kind of embarrassed. “Sorry.”

I just sat there. I didn’t really want to go back over my experience in the underground, but at the same time, I really wanted to get it off my chest.

“You wanted to know what it’s about?” I asked. “Alright. I’ll tell you.”


	2. The past we left behind

"Seriously, it's okay if you don't want to," Misko told me over and over. Numki's face said otherwise.

"For the last time, I'm fine with it," I informed her again. "It'd be nice to get this off my chest."

"If he wants to talk, just let him talk," Numki chipped in.

Misko gave in. "Alright, fine. So what's the story behind the wristband? Is the 10,006 on it supposed to mean something?"

Ah, yes. That number. I nearly winced at that.

"Well, you see..." I began. "So, I was taken away from my parents at a young age."

"That makes three of us," Numki cut in. "Practically all octolings are separated from their parents."

"Yeah," I agreed. "However, after that, I was forced to work for that DJ. Octavio."

"I wasn't very old, like 10, but I had a surreal understanding for tech. Weapons, computers, ink tanks, the list goes on. So, I helped build his big... DJ booth? I'm not too sure if it was that or a unique tank that can play music."

"It took years, and by the time it was finished I was 14. Not long after that, Octavio was able to capture one of Inkopolis’ stars, the one they ‘liked the most’, by his words. Callie. Still not sure who exactly she is, other than a presumably important inkling, but Octavio seemed proud. He also captured this huge Zapfish, but that was of less importance to him."

"Although, soon after, this teen inkling came along. She wanted to save Callie and the Zapfish, which meant challenging Octavio to a fight. So Octavio invited everyone who worked on his... machine to the battle. Lured in that inkling to the battlefield just at the right time."

"I was excited to see Octavio kick this inkling's butt with something I helped work on, but that all backfired. She came prepared, and even got backup, who I'm pretty sure was Callie's sister or something. Octavio went down hard, and I... I ran. Fleed. Feared what would happen if Octavio survived and made it back."

"I didn't actually make it far. A different inkling stopped me, and I don't remember much of the following. I remember trying to get by them, a shoving battle starting. Then I just remember black. And then I woke up by a subway track, no memory of how I got there. Or where exactly it was. One thing stood out the most, though, and it was this… song. I didn’t remember where I heard it from, but I did know it made me want to leave the underground forever."

“Alright, now that all that backstory’s out of the way, there was this telephone thing down there. It basically said I was part of an experiment, and that I was subject 10,006,” I concluded. “That’s what this wristband means.”

“Wow,” Misko said, looking sort of amazed. “You’ve been through a lot.”

“You can say that again,” I murmured.

“Honestly, when I was taken away, they said I was of no use to them,” Numki confessed. “So they tried to… ‘train’ me.” She made quotation marks with her hands. “Or so they said. But I knew better.”

“Train?” I asked, a bit confused. “What do you mean by train?”

Numki shuddered. “Sanitize.”

That sparked a horrible feeling in my stomach. Sanitization was, by far, the worst thing that the octos had come up with. A sanitized octo is only a shadow of themselves, all their personality lost and their mind being controlled by an octo of greater authority. It was the worst thing that could happen to an octo, and I should know. I had looked into the face of many sanitized octos, and I could never see any light in them. Only darkness.

“For real?” I asked. “How’d you get out of that?”

“There was only two octos escorting me,” Numki told me. “I bit one, kicked the other in the shins, and ran. Ran as far away as I could.”

“And that’s when she ran into me,” Misko cut in. “We were both runaways and both trying to hide from the cruel, uncaring octo society.”

“Wait, you guys were both going to get sanitized?” I asked in surprise, feeling a bit dizzy at the thought of it.

“No,” Misko replied. “They wanted me to plan out buildings and such, as I was so good at. I really knew how to plan things out. But I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to do other things. So I snuck out and ran away.”

“It’s actually a pretty big miracle that we were able to survive for so long down there,” Numki added.

“It sure is,” I agreed. “So how’d you manage to escape?”

“Came across a group of people plotting an escape,” Numki answered. “We tagged along, and were able to get out. What about you?”

“Went the same way one of my friends did,” I responded. “It was difficult, and I did lose them. I just hope they’re okay.”

“One of your friends?” Misko sounded intrigued. “What other people did you know?”

“She went by the name of Eight,” I told them. “She couldn’t remember her actual name, so she stuck to calling herself by the last digit of her number.”

“Wait, so she was 10,008?” Numki asked. “What happened to 10,007?”

“Fallid,” I flinched at the memory. “He was a really good friend…” My voice trailed off, and I felt my eyes start to fill with tears.

“What? Is something wrong?” Misko asked, concerned.

“Well, taking into account what happened to Eight,” I said, voice cracking. “He’s dead.”

“Oh,” Misko uttered. “I’m so sorry.”

“Say, what happened to Eight that makes you think he’s dead?” Numki asked, trying to clear things up.

“She was supposed to die,” I recounted. “They were having us build our own death machines, saying it would get us to the ‘Promised Land’.”

“When Eight was ‘leaving’, I heard this loud smash of glass from where she was. The doors were locked, so I couldn’t run out there, but I peeked through the window just in time to see her go through a hole in the ceiling. Glass and debris was everywhere on the floor, and there was that old inkling looking after an unconscious inkling.”

“I had to smash the windows to get out,” I concluded. “The whole escape was just a blur, really, but... I made it.”

That was followed by an uncomfortable silence. They didn’t want to follow that up with anything, even if they had anything to follow it up with.

“Hey, you said you speak inkling?” Misko blurted out, breaking the silence and easing the tension a bit.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “It’s a bit rough, but I can speak it well.”

“In the morning, you need to get a job. We need money to do well here.” Misko explained.

“Um, alright,” I responded. “Where could I do that?”

“I’ll show you in the morning,” Misko told me, yawning. “I’m tired, though.”

“Yeah, me too,” Numki agreed. “We need to go to sleep.”

They sprawled out on the ground and tried to get comfy on the rough ground, and I followed suit. However, I didn’t think I would get some sleep for a while. There was still a lot to think over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If only he knew what happened to Eight... lol


	3. Out in the real world

Here I stand now, in the world I had more or less had in mind. Everybody was up, now that it was the morning. The place was filled with the light from the sky. Inklings were crowding the streets of Inkopolis, trying to get to where they needed to go. But where I was going was the busiest. Inkopolis Square was packed with inklings… and I thought I saw some octolings too. Not too sure though.

Eventually I squeezed through to the small, sort of shady looking building I was trying to get to: Grizzco industries, the fishing company Misko told me about.

“Fishing is just basically like what you did down there, really,” Misko had tried to explain. “You should be good at that.”

I walked through to the front desk, where a bored inkling sat. She looked up at me and spoke to me in inkling. “You new here?”

I got kind of nervous. “Uh, I'm looking for a job?”

“Alright, yeah, sure,” She replied. “You’re hired. Training is tomorrow.” I was kind of surprised there. I wasn't expecting it to be that easy.

I walked out of there feeling something in my chest… pride. I just got a job! I'd be able to support myself here, in this world. It felt amazing. Although, that inkling there just sort of shrugged it off like it was no big deal. Did inklings really have it that made for them? Another feeling started to come along… jealousy. If only I could live one of their lives…

I got so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't even notice what was right in front of me. I ended up running into somebody else on accident, and by habit I ended up speaking in octoling. “Oh, I'm sorry, didn't… see you… there…” My voice trailed off as I realized what I was doing.

However, much to my surprise, he turned around and replied in perfect octoling. “It's cool, don't sweat it.”

I was already surprised at that, but his appearance was even more surprising. He had features of both inkling and octoling. His tentacles were smooth on top, like an inkling, but he lacked the “mask” of an inkling. He was a hybrid of the two.

I didn't know how to respond, but I did make him uncomfortable. “Please don't stare, okay? I know I'm different.” He asked of me.

“Sorry, I…” I came out with a lack of words. “I'm sorry, I'll just go now.” I started to walk away.

“Wait, you can't just come up to me, speak freaking octoling, and leave like that,” He demanded. “I've been looking forever for someone like this.”

I stopped. Someone like me? Well, I suppose it would be hard to find someone who spoke octoling in this world of inklings.

“My name's Taleru,” He told me, holding out his hand towards me. Wait - why is he extending his arm? Is that some sort of welcoming sign?

“I’m Seffir,” I told him, holding out my hand in the same way. Then Taleru grabbed my hand and shook it. The gesture had me taken a little off guard, but I was able to maintain a straight face.

“Say, you wouldn't happen to speak inkling, by any chance?” He asked of me.

“I can speak inkling,” I replied in inkling. “It's a bit rough, but it's still pretty good.”

“Nice,” He responded. Then he paused, thinking something over. “You might want to pay attention, then,” He went with. “Off The Hook’s about to come on.”

Off The Hook? I’d never heard of them before. “Who?” I asked.

As if on cue, the big screen that loomed above Inkopolis Square changed and there were these two people there. One was a short inkling, the other a tall octoling.

“Shit, it’s starting!” Taleru hissed.

“Y’all know what time it is!” The inkling yelled.

“It’s Off The Hook, coming at you live from Inkopolis Square!” The octoling followed.

“So that’s Off The Hook?” I asked. “What’s their names?”

“The inkling’s Pearl, and the octoling’s Marina,” Taleru hurriedly said. “Now quiet, I don’t want to miss this!”

“Yo, Marina! Tell the people the good news before we introduce the stages!” Pearl exclaimed.

“Huh? Like, right now?” Marina asked, sounding a bit startled. “Um… what was the good news again?”

I was quite confused at all this, but I figured it’d be best not to talk. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

“You know, the single most important celebration of our culture?” Pearl tried to remind her. “The Spla-”

“Oh, right!” Marina cut in, facepalming herself while grinning stupidly. “The Splatfest!”

Splatfest? For the love of Cod, what on earth is a Splatfest? The inkling world just had loads of surprises in store.

“Ding ding ding!” Pearl yelled out. “We’ve got a Splatfest coming up quick!”

“Yes, Splatfests always get my ink pumping!” Marina exclaimed excitedly. “I’ve gotta get my gear ready!”

“Yo, Marina. What’s the Splatfest theme this time?”

“Haaaaah… I’m too nervous to look. You do it.”

“Fine. Alright, here’s the Splatfest theme.” Pearl announced. For the first time, I noticed the TV screen in between them. It changed to show what I could only presume to be the Splatfest theme. “How do you like your OJ?” The short inkling continued. “With pulp or without pulp?”

“Aaand that’s all that matters,” Taleru whispered, starting to walk away.

“What?” I was confused. “I’m pretty sure they have more to say.”

“They’re just going to argue on how one side is better,” He informed me. “Look.”

“This is a no contest,” Marina commented. “What kind of barbarian likes pulp in their or-”

“Pulp me up, yo!!” Pearl screamed out.

“See, it’s just gonna go on like this,” Taleru said, rolling his eyes. “There’s no point.”

“Alright,” I hesitantly agreed. By now we were just sort of awkwardly staring at each other. However, I had this weird feeling in my stomach. I wasn’t really sure what it was, but I could guarantee it wasn’t bodily functions.

“So,” Taleru awkwardly brought in, trying to break the ice. “Do you have a number?”

I flinched at that, but he didn’t really notice. “No.”

“Do you have any form of contact?” He tried again.

“...no?” I apologetically said.

“Fuck,” I heard him mumble under his breath. He thought for a bit. Then, he snapped his fingers. “I know,” He exclaimed, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a phone and gave it to me. “It’s an old phone I carry around in case of emergencies, but I can assure you that you probably need it more than I do.”

I held the phone in my hand, admiring the smooth edges and the nice fresh look of it. “Thanks!” I said, amazed this stranger would give me a phone.

“Take care of it,” Taleru told me, starting to slip away into the crowd. Before I could say anything more to him, he was gone.

 

* * *

 

 

“So what you’re telling me is that you bumped into some random guy on the street, he spoke octoling but he wasn’t an octoling, but also wasn’t an inkling, and he also gave you a phone?”

“That’s another way of putting it.”

Misko and Numki were just as confused as I was with this Taleru guy. For good reason, too. People like him just seem too good to be true.

“Let me see the phone again,” Numki demanded. I pulled out the phone and turned it on, its bright blue light illuminating the area around us.

“It doesn’t really do much,” I admitted. “But it’s still a working phone.”

“I still think that’s pretty cool,” Misko said.

“But how are you supposed to charge it?” Numki asked. “We don’t have any chargers or anything. What do you think has happened to my laptop?”

“Yeah, we might need to get a charg-” I stopped as I realized what Numki had just said. “Wait, you have a laptop?”

“Yeah,” Numki said, as if it was obvious. “It’s out of batteries now, so it’s useless, but I have it.”

“Hey, I just remembered,” Misko brought up. “Did you get that job?”

“Yes, actually,” I told them. “I did.” Misko’s face lit up.

“That’s excellent!” Misko exclaimed. “We’re making progress!”

“Yeah, that’s awesome!” Numki agreed. “Hopefully we can get a proper place to live!”

“Hopefully,” I echoed, grinning. Things were looking up.


	4. Splatfests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay, but I spent a lot of time on this. I just hope you find it as good as I did.

It had been almost a week since I had been working at Grizzco. To be honest, the work was hard. Not hard as in difficult - It was actually really easy. Misko was right when she said I was suited for it. However, it really had an impact on my emotional state. Every shift I had a flashback to... those times. Those times that I wanted nothing more than to leave behind. That was the last thing I wanted to happen - to be constantly reminded of what happened down there. That I’m a murderer, whether I wanted to kill or not.

I have to do this, though. I have to suffer through the pain. This was the only job I could get, and we don’t have many other options. We don’t have any other options, to be exact. I don’t have a choice, a second way out. If I want to live in this world of freedom I always dreamed of, I have to do this.

I suppose nothing ever comes free. Everything has a price.

I regretted running down the streets of Inkopolis, trying to make it to Grizzco’s on time. That was the last place I wanted to go right now, and for a second I thought about skipping out. Just maybe chill out, try to learn more about this world that I didn’t already.

Nope. I couldn’t do that. I didn’t want to let Misko and Numki down, or give them any reason to not trust me. Their trust in me was one of the only things I had.

I reached the building, hidden in the shadows. Taking a deep breath, trying to prepare for the emotional pain I would encounter in that building, I hesitantly took steps in.

It’s not like I was expecting anything different, anything out of the ordinary. I knew what was waiting for me in there - the bored receptionist at the front desk who couldn’t be any older than 16, the check-in box ready to report anyone off-duty, and the big man himself, Mr. Grizz, dealing with countless teenagers excited to work and get some money, and possibly some “fresh” clothing. I still don’t understand why “fresh” is such a big thing here, but then again, there’s still a lot I don’t understand.

I was hurriedly paired with 3 other inklings, all maybe 14, looking excited and ready to go out fishing. Cod, are they lucky. I wonder what it would be like to be them - barely old enough to go out fishing, and really pumped about it. For them it’s more of a game than a job. They’re all probably still in school.

Wait a minute. School… high school! That’s a thing in Inkopolis, right? With that, I might be able to get a better job!

My mind was abuzz with thoughts like that, but even those couldn’t deny or even entirely push out what was about to happen in there. Before I knew it, there was a sniper aiming at me. An Octosniper. They were perched on a high platform, one I couldn’t reach with the dualies I had. I threw up a bomb, straight into the Flyfish’s missile launcher - oh, shit. It had happened again.

I quickly checked the stats of my shift. The quota had been reached, and there was only 15 seconds left of the third wave. I breathed a sigh of relief - it was almost over. I took a step back, and yelped in pain at the feel of stepping into the corrosive, sanitized ink - no, that’s just a Smallfry. I am absolutely losing it.

Splatting the damn thing, I ran off, away from all the action, and just tried to be calm. Tried to take my mind off of the chaos that was happening. The chaos that had happened. Just think about anything else, anything -

“Alright, that’s it,” Mr. Grizz announced. “Shift’s over. Collect pay at the front desk.”

I couldn’t have gotten out faster.

* * *

_Ping._

The phone in my backpack went off. Is that a text? But who was it from? I know that Grizzco definitely wouldn’t text me. Numki and Misko seemed just as confused.

“Is that your phone?” Numki asked me, curious.

“I think so,” I wasn’t too sure myself. I unzipped the backpack and pulled out the phone, which dinged once more. The two texts were from a contact I hadn’t noticed before, going by the name Taleru. Oh, right! Him! But why was he texting me?

“Who is it?” Misko asked, not knowing who Taleru was. Actually, she wouldn’t have even been able to read the name. It was written in inkling.

“It’s the guy who gave me this phone,” I responded, unlocking the phone. I read the messages.

_Hey there._

_Sorry to bother you, but do you want to meet up at Inkopolis Square?_

He wanted to meet up with me? Maybe I could learn more, about… well, just about everything, really. _Sure,_ I typed back. _Will be there in 10 minutes._ With that, I turned off the phone. “I’m going out,” I announced, sliding the phone into my pocket.

“Where are you going?” Numki asked me. “You meeting up with that guy?”

“Yes, actually,” I stated. I then left, headed for Inkopolis Square. It was a trip I had been making for the past week, although this time, instead of feeling the dread of going to work, I felt… nervous? No, it wasn’t really nervous. It just felt… different. Yet at the same time, they both felt similar. It was an indescribable emotion, one that felt…

Well, it kind of felt nice.

Whatever. Pushing my thoughts and feelings to the side, I got to Inkopolis Square, still buzzing with action. Well, it was always buzzing with action, except for during the nighttime. The screens shone bright with artificial light, giving the place a blue glow, all showing some sort of advertisement. The place was still fairly busy, even with nothing in particular happening. I scanned the crowd, and was able to see Taleru sitting at a table. He was on his phone when he looked up, and he locked eyes with me. He smiled and waved at me to come over. That feeling I had got about ten times stronger. Was this friendship? No, I had had friends in the underground. This was something else. Something I just couldn’t put my finger on.

Never mind that. I didn’t want to keep him waiting. I squeezed through the crowd until I got to where he sat. “Hey, Taleru,” I said in inkling.

His smile seemed to get bigger. “Hi, Seffir,” Taleru greeted me. “Take a seat.” He pulled a chair out and gestured for me to sit in it. I sat down. There was a bit of a silence that followed. I don’t think he had planned this out.

Eventually, he spoke up. “So,” He tried to find the right words. “You seemed a bit… new to all this. After all, when we watched Off The Hook together, you not only didn’t know who they were, but looked confused as hell when they announced the Splatfest.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “Is this your first time in Inkopolis?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “I just got here about a week ago.”

Taleru nodded. “So you’ve never heard of a Splatfest, let alone know what it is?”

“I have no clue what a Splatfest is,” I confirmed his thoughts. “Isn’t it tomorrow? Am I supposed to do something?”

“Alright, let’s take this one at a time,” He gestured for me to calm down. “First off, what do you prefer; orange juice with pulp or without pulp?”

I already didn’t know what he was talking about. “Uh, what’s orange juice?” I asked him.

He looked sort of shocked. “You don’t- uh, okay,” He stammered. “Well, I’ll show you. Follow me.” He got up and started walking. I followed his lead.

We weaved through the busy streets of Inkopolis Square to this big truck with a large window on the side of the road. It seemed fairly busy. Wait, that’s not actually a window. It’s just a hole, and leaning out of it was… uh, is that a lobster? I’ve never been good with this…

There was a lineup which we joined in, and after some waiting, we got to the front of it. The… person in the truck seemed to recognize Taleru. “Ah, Taleru and…” He stared at me, seemingly lost in thought. “You’re new here, right?”

“Yeah, he is. This is Seffir,” Taleru introduced me to this guy.

“Well then,” He kindly smiled at me. “Welcome to the Crust Bucket! I’m Crusty Sean, or just Sean for short. So,” Sean turned to Taleru. “Are you two ordering together, or…?”

“Uh, just two orange juices,” Taleru ordered. “One with pulp, one without.”

“Pretty controversial move at this time, but okay,” Sean responded. “You got your tickets?”

Taleru sort of smiled and pulled out a wallet. In it was a bunch of tickets, and… cards. Cards that looked like CQ point cards. I could feel myself start to break down. It took everything I had to keep it together.

He pulled out two tickets with an inkling super jumping, a clock next to them. The tickets were handed over to Sean, who shoved them into a... drawer thing, without even as much as a second glance.

“Coming right up!” Sean announced as he went over to a different part of the truck. He poured liquids, with an orangish hue but in different jugs, into two different cups. He then put lids on and came back over to serve the fluids to Taleru.

“This one has the pulp,” He informed Taleru, pointing to the left one. “Alright, enjoy!”

“Thanks!” Taleru exclaimed, grabbing the drinks. He nudged me a bit. “Let’s go.”

Following him, we went back to the table. He placed the two cups in front of me. “Just try them both and see which one you like more,” He told me. That sounded simple enough.

I took the one on the right, the one without the pulp, and took a sip. It tasted like… well, I didn’t know what to compare it to. I had rarely had food with taste to it before. However, the taste felt good against my taste buds. “I like it,” I said out loud.

“Alright, now try it with pulp,” Taleru instructed me. I took the other cup and drank from it. This one tasted more fruity, with chunks in it. The texture was nice and soft, easy to chew. I loved it.

“I think I like this one more,” I stated.

Taleru’s face lit up. “Alright,” He said, sort of enthusiastically. “Now you just pick that side on the terminal over there.” He pointed at a thing maybe 20 feet from where we were. The screen on it resembled the one I had seen show up on that Off The Hook thing.

“Okay then. Is there anything else?” I asked, getting excited about this.

“Then tomorrow, you fight for your side,” Taleru gave the last bit of info.

My jaw dropped. “W-what?” I stammered. I did not want to do any more fighting. All it did was make my mental condition worse.

Taleru looked concerned. “Is something wrong?” He asked me. “It’s not fighting to the death. Don’t worry.”

“Everything’s fine,” I lied, trying to put on a poker face. “Just… surprised.”

“Alright,” Taleru sounded relieved. “So yeah, those are Splatfests.”

I still couldn’t believe they fighted over something like a drink. “Do you always fight over petty things?” I asked, still in a state of disbelief.

Taleru chuckled. “Yeah, they are sort of stupid,” He admitted. “But they’re actually quite a bit of fun.”

At that moment, his phone buzzed. Pulling it out of his pocket, he unlocked it and looked at it. His facial expression changed to panicked. “Shit, I gotta go!” He hurriedly exclaimed. “See you later, Seffir.” With that he ran out. I felt like calling out to him, to tell him to stop. But, I didn’t want to interfere with what he had to do.

I turned and went to the… terminal, he called it? Yeah, the terminal. The Splatfest terminal. As I approached it, I took a mental note of the condition it was in. It looked like it had seen better times. It looked like this thing was old and had worn down over time, meaning the tech inside was probably outdated and simple.

Actually, that was a nice stress reliever. Going on about tech. Technology is one of my favourite things in the world. However, inklings are far behind in their tech than octolings. The phone Taleru had given me was really simple stuff. I just hope that was an outdated phone, and that inklings have better technology, since they would’ve had more time to improve it.

Pushing those thoughts aside, I focused on the Splatfest. The terminal now in front of me listed the two options there were. Pulp, or No Pulp. For each side, there was a button to press. I lifted my hand and brought it back down on the Pulp button. That side glowed for a bit, as a shirt came out of a slot on the terminal. Grabbing the shirt, I examined it. I suppose this is a Splatfest shirt, to indicate what side you were on. The shirt had the Pulp logo on it, the word “Pulp” written underneath it in inkling.

I still didn’t feel ready for the fighting part. I wasn’t even sure if I could do it.

Well, I suppose I could try...


End file.
